In light of New Braunfels’ 35-0 conquest of Steele on Friday, I feel pretty safe lumping the area’s Class 4A teams into two categories: New Braunfels, Kerrville Tivy and Alamo Heights, and everybody else.

Here are my impressions after finally having seen all three play in person:

New Braunfels

The thing that struck me about the Steele game is that the Unicorns have established an iron-clad identity. On offense, they put the ball in the hands of their best player, quarterback Ryan Perez, and let him do what he does best (either run it or throw short, high-percentage passes). On defense, they run sideline to sideline and gang tackle anything that moves.

Nothing profound about either strategy. But you’d be surprised at how many teams don’t know quite what they want to be, or let the flow of the game control them as opposed to the other way around. Not the Unicorns. This is a team that has a very clear idea of what it wants to do and how to do it.

What they lack is offensive firepower. Perez is excellent, but he’d be even better if he had a top-shelf tailback or receiver to help shoulder the load. The Unicorns can get by at the moment, because they’re so good in so many different areas. But as they advance deeper into the playoffs, points are probably going to be tough to come by.

Kerrville Tivy

The Antlers (8-0) have played six games since I saw them beat Judson in early September then. My impression was that of a good, well-organized team that wasn’t quite as athletic as you’d like. With the development of quarterback Colton Palmer and receiver Logan Vick, they’re probably more explosive than my initial assessment.

But like New Braunfels, they still don’t have that consistent, go-to workhorse that is such an advantage in the playoffs.

On the flipside, they do boast something most teams lack — an outstanding kicker. As good as he is at receiver, Vick might be even better booting the ball between the uprights. He’s got one of the strongest legs I’ve ever seen, comparable to Boerne’s Hunter Lawrence and Smithson Valley’s Reagan Schneider. That could be a crucial weapon as competition improves and the games get tougher.

Alamo Heights

I can’t think of anything that has impressed me more this year than how the Mules (7-1) have continued to roll after plugging in an almost entirely new lineup following last year’s state championship. Their defense is dominant, and they still throw the ball about as well as any team in the area.

Their ground game, conversely, is at best inconsistent and at worst non-existent. I’ll also be curious to see how quarterback Drew Allen, in his first year as a starter, handles his first taste of playoff pressure.

That is not, in any way, shape or form, a knock on Allen. He’s an excellent quarterback with great deep touch and much better mobility than you’d expect from such a tall, lanky kid. He’s only going to get better — and he’s already been very, very good. It’s just that, as a relatively inexperienced player, he’s still a bit erratic.

ODDS AND END AROUNDS

* Smithson Valley coach Larry Hill got a bit testy with me when I brought up Marcus Wright’s rushing totals (220 yards, three touchdowns) after the Rangers’ 47-27 victory. “Yeah, but we scored more points than they did,” he said. Fair enough. Excluding Wright’s 77-yard touchdown and a 61-yard run later in the game, Smithson Valley did about as well as you can against a player approaching 6,000 career yards.

But here’s the thing — you can’t just exclude them. Big plays all count, and in the four instances I’ve seen the Rangers (preseason scrimmage against New Braunfels, games against Roosevelt, Madison and Reagan), they’ve had trouble limiting them in each. Because their offense is so good, the Rangers can outscore just about everybody they play. At some point in the playoffs, however, they’re going to have to start locking people down.

* Hooray for me. After making an idiot out of myself all year with my errant upset picks, I finally got one right with Stevens’ 17-13 victory over Marshall. This is probably illegal under UIL rules. But any time you need a little extra lunch money, Geoffrey Miles, give me a ring. You earned it after rushing for 230 yards and a touchdown to keep your team in the playoff hunt. Not to mention making me look semi-intelligent for once.

* It’s one thing to win. It’s another to manhandle your opponent, as Southwest did East Central in its 48-20 victory. With 52 rushing attempts, you’d be thrilled to average five yards a pop. The Dragons averaged nearly nine en route to 453 yards — 205 from Dan McCarney fantasy pickup Stephen Salinas (thanks for the 34 points, Stephen) and 97 from backup Tre’vion Johnson. The Dragons almost always have a few strong offensive line candidates for the All-Area team, and this year would seem to be no different after that display of dominance.

* Randolph standout Aaron Applewhite was likely referring to a piece in Friday’s Express-News when he said, “a lot of people were doubting us,” following the Ro-Hawks’ 21-14 victory over Stockdale. Not at all, Aaron. After watching the beating your team put on Cole earlier this season, I knew full well that the Ro-Hawks were an excellent team. But considering all the sub-par teams you’ve played — the gist of Friday’s note — I simply wanted a little proof against a top-notch opponent. Considering Stockdale had also been undefeated, triumph No. 8 most definitely qualifies.